Lost in Ylisse
by crazypandagirl
Summary: A small child banished from her world grows up shunned by the Ylissean court, and suffering from depression, she falls victim to a curse that sends her from her life for nearly six years. Upon her return, all her walls are torn down, and her oldest wounds are ripped open when her family finds her after being banished themselves. All she knows is pain and sadness, and Chrom...
1. Prologue Part 1

No POV

The Exalt leads his strongest knights in a dire chase of soldiers attempting to capture a young girl, running from all of them. "Knights, be careful not to harm the child!" he shouts, raising Falchion in the air.

The Plegian soldiers pursuing the girl turn around and begin fighting back against the knights, allowing their stronger units to continue the chase of the innocent girl. The knights slaughter all who stand in their way, and the Exalt is no exception, as blood runs once more down Falchion's holy blade and sprays into his blue hair. When the force left to oppose them is annihilated, the Ylissean force moves on, picking up their pace to compensate for the delay. They soon hear panicked screaming from ahead, and come across a discarded bag, filled with papers and pencils.

"HELP!" the girl screams, and, throwing the bag over his saddle horn, the Exalt continues leading the rescue team, charging through the shifting sands of the Plegian desert to find a party of Plegian soldiers closing in on a small form.

"Grab her!" a Plegian General shouts, sheathing his sword, not noticing the Ylissean knights closing in on him and his men. "The King wants her unharmed, or all of us dead with her!"

She trips in the sand with a small yelp, and a soldier throws a sack over her head, eliciting a high pitched scream before he pinches a pressure point on her neck, knocking her unconscious.

From what he could see of the little girl, she was slightly chubby, weak and exhausted, maybe a few years younger than his son Chrom. A protective instinct takes its hold on the Ylissean ruler, and he charges with a war cry, Falchion drawn and aimed for the General's heart. "No prisoners! Rescue the girl!" he shouts as the General falls to his blade.

In the chaos, the man holding the girl manages to escape, running in a direction he knows is a cliff where he can use her as a hostage to get away. When they realize he had gotten away, the Exalt leaves his Knight Commander in charge of finishing up while he goes on to find them.

"Use caution, my liege!" he shouts, earning a nod of acknowledgement before the blue-haired Exalt gallops off, vanishing into the heat haze of the desert.

The sand bites into the exposed skin of his face and hands, making the sunburn sting even worse than before, but he doesn't dare to stop, lest he lose the trail. The chase lasts long enough to where he finds the man an hour later, clutching at his stomach and agony as a little speck vanishes over the next sand dune. Without hesitation, the Exalt slits the fallen man's throat, and continues on the little girl's trail.

He finds her standing at the edge of a cliff, staring down as she slowly backs away. "Child, get away from the cliff!" he shouts in worry as he dismounts, still holding Falchion.

She spins around and takes a step in the direction of the cliff, shaking in fear and shock, red from heat and sunburn, dripping sweat. "S-stay away!"

He puts his blade down, stabbing the point deep into the sands, and steps away, raising his hands to his sides as he slowly inches forward. "I'm not going to hurt you, sweetie!"

"Liar!" she shouts, eyes darting around wildly. "You're gonna take me away and hurt me! Just like them!"

The Exalt shakes his heads as he continues forward. "I would never hurt you! I'm fighting against them!" She takes a step back, and he stops moving forward in fear. "Please, just let me help you get back home!"

Her knees start buckling, and she is dangerously close to the edge of the cliff. "I- I don't believe you!"

She falls to her knees, and before she can blink, the Exalt is pulling her away from the edge, cradling her in his arms and holding a full canteen of water up for her. "You need to calm down and drink something," he whispers, pushing the canteen to her lips. She gulps down the slightly warm water almost painfully fast, leading him to wonder how long she's been running out here for. He then inspects her clothing, finding a fleece jacket tied around her waist, formal black shoes, a green, black, and white plaid skirt, and a white blouse. "Where are you from?" he asks himself in a whisper.

She pushes away the drink as she calms down slightly. "I want Mommy," she whimpers, hiding her face in his chest.

He rises with a groan, shifting the slightly heavy girl to one arm as he goes to retrieve Falchion from the sand, before returning to his horse. The large white gelding nuzzles the child as he rests before raising her into the saddle. "Have you ever ridden a horse before?"

She raises her head and gapes at the beautiful horse in front of her. "Yeah, at the carnival." She shyly reaches out a hand to pet the horse's nose, and giggles as the whiskers tickle her tiny palm.

The Exalt smiles for the first time in years, seeing such innocence that he had thought he would never again see after his wife's death soon after Lissa was born. "Well, here you go, hold onto the saddle horn, okay?" He raises her to sit side-saddle and gives her a moment to settle in, then mounts up behind her, wrapping an arm around her protectively. "So, what's your name, sweetie?"

"Becca," she murmurs, returning to hiding her face in his chest. "What's your name, mister?"

"I am Exalt Jackson of Ylisse, Becca." They ride on in silence for a while before her body relaxes suddenly. "Becca?" She gives no response, concerning the Exalt, until he looks to find her fast asleep. He shakes his head and goes forward until he smells the blood of his enemies on the wind, and sees his knights riding out to meet him.

"Milord! Are you alright?" the Knight Commander asks, worry making his whole body tense.

Exalt Jackson nods, holding Becca close. "She is in need of medical attention as soon as possible, George."

A war monk, which he had not noticed before, rides to the Exalt's side. "Dehydrated, exhaustion, sunburn, hunger, shock, several cuts which might be infected… she couldn't get any worse than this, milord. Would you please give her to me so I can work on her as we ride back to camp?"

Reluctantly, he lifts the girl and passes her to the monk, who gets straight to work on the cuts on her knees and hands. "George, do you have any information of as to why the Plegians would have wanted her unharmed?"

"We have nothing to go off of, milord, other than that she may be from a different world." George murmurs to his lord as they make their way back to camp. "But more than that, what are we to do with her? We have no room to spare in camp, nor much more rations unless a group goes back to Ylisstol for supplies."

The Exalt nods, but says nothing more until much later in the medical tent as he sits vigil over Becca as he has his sunburns treated alongside her. "I will take a group to Ylisstol for supplies, and take the girl there. She can't be in the way here, nor does she need to witness what we do."

George nods in approval. "I will remain and take command until your return, my liege. When will you be leaving?"

"Preferably tomorrow just before dawn." He looks to his Knight Commander with a rare concern. "Are you certain you would rather stay here? I know you have been wanting to see Frederick lately."

He shakes his head. "I will go on the next supply trip to have a visit with him, milord. Although, would you please deliver some letters to my son while you are there?"

"Of course, my friend. Gather a group of fast riders, and alert them to be ready to leave half an hour before dawn."

Three Weeks Later

The two older royal children wait in the courtyard for their father's party, Chrom standing next to his elder sister of one year in the shade of the entryway. "Chrom, just relax." Emmeryn gently chides him, seeing her brother fidgeting slightly.

"I know Emm, but we haven't seen father in so long!" he growls. In all honesty, he didn't really mind not seeing his father so much anymore. Before the war had begun, his father had been a bit of a recluse, mourning his wife's loss for the two years before declaring this war, practically ignoring his children who needed their father.

Emmeryn opens her mouth to answer, but gets cut off by the blaring trumpets announcing their father's arrival just as the gates allow him and several knights to enter the courtyard. At the head of the party is a slightly thinner Exalt than they remember, but with a gentleness in him they barely recognize, an arm wrapped around a bundle in front of him.

"Father," the siblings murmur, bowing in respect.

"Children," he responds, nodding his head, allowing them to relax slightly. "Chrom, would you come here a moment?"

The boy hastens to obey his father as the bundle shifts, and a head swivels around slowly, knocking away a makeshift hood to reveal shiny reddish brown hair, glowing in the morning sun over sleepy hazel eyes. "Are we there?" a tiny voice asks, filled with nervous tension.

The Exalt nods and seats her sidesaddle in front of him. "Yes. Chrom, would you please watch this young lady for a while with your sisters?"

The nine-year-old nods. "Of course, Father."

He offers a hand to the girl as she scoots to jump down, which she takes shyly before doing so, landing slightly crouched, but perfectly like any ordinary soldier. "Thank you," she whispers quietly, just loud enough for the prince to hear her.

"You're welcome," he murmurs in response, before turning to his father once more. "Has she eaten breakfast yet?"

He shakes his head. "Not yet, she was still asleep when we moved out this morning. Please do take care of feeding her and let the maids find her some more suitable clothes." With a final nod to his family, he dismounts to address his soldiers.

The siblings lead the small girl to their family chambers, where their three year old sister is waiting for them in their shared dining room. "Emmy! Cwom!" she shouts, running over to give them giant hugs, her blonde pigtails bouncing with each step. "Fwedewick won't pway with me!"

Chrom looks over to his stern faced eleven year old friend, whose glare rests on the little girl still clutching his hand, wearing her outfit that does not match with anything they have ever seen in their world before. "Frederick, couldn't you at least humor her for a while?"

He shakes his head. "I refuse to be used as a doll in such a manner, Chrom. And who is this girl holding your hand?"

The three siblings stare at the uniformed girl, who cringes and pulls her hand away from Chrom, finding the floor to be highly interesting. "I'm Becca." She mutters, not raising her gaze from the floor.

Emmeryn smiles gently and takes her hand again. "I'm Emm, this is Chrom, Lissa, and Frederick. It's nice to meet you."

A butler walks in with a covered tray of food. "Children, it is time for breakfast. Please sit at the table."

They all hurry to obey, Chrom sitting with the new girl in between him and Emm, spreading a napkin over her lap before turning to his meal. "So where are you from, Becca?" Frederick asks after a while, and they have finished eating.

The little girl, finally relaxing, gives him a small but sad smile. "I live in Maryland."

The older children trade worried looks, and Lissa pouts, feeling left out. "I'm booowweed!"

A maid steps into the room, carrying a bundle. "Miss Becca? Let's go get you washed up."

The little girl shoves herself back from the table before any of them can assist her, displaying odd strength for her tiny size. "Okay."

The maid takes her hand and leads her away, presumably to a room that was set up for her stay.

As soon as they leave, Frederick turns on the older siblings. "What in Naga's name is going on here?"

"Father brought her with him, and he didn't tell us anything about her. That's probably the most anyone might know about her right now," Emmeryn replies, a worried frown marring her serene expression.

Chrom nods in agreement. "Father just told us to feed her and let the maids take care of her after that."

This is a mix between our world and Fire Emblem Awakening, so be prepared for confusion. And there is a six year time skip between this part of the prologue and part two. I just couldn't tie them together all that well, and I wanted to have a little bit of something to tie the characters together, so I hope you enjoyed.

I do not own Fire Emblem Awakening.


	2. Prologue Part 2

No POV

A woman carrying a heavy bag on her shoulders leads a fourteen year old girl along the road, both hooded by their purple cloaks, starts slowing down as she stumbles over a rock. "Are you okay?"

The young woman nods. "I'm alright, Mother."

The sound of horses on the road ahead of them makes them pause, and a small party in fine clothes approaches, slowing down as they reach the traveling pair. They are a group of teenagers, two boys looking fifteen and another seventeen, and with one girl about eleven, another about nine or ten, out for the day.

"Chrom, can we stop yet? I wanna have a lunch break," one of the boys, wearing green and with incredibly messy hair, asks the other fifteen year old.

"Yeah Chrom, I agree with Stahl!" the nine year old girl cheers from behind the eleven year old sharing her horse.

The blue haired fifteen year old sighs. "I guess we might as well," he murmurs as he looks ahead, finding the two travelers watching them cautiously. "Travelers, would you like to join us for lunch?"

The woman slowly nods, leading the girl at her side over to the group as they dismount, the two girls doing so much more recklessly. However, before they can near the ground, a boy in light blue armor follows Chrom in catching the girls. While the younger one laughs and hugs the armored boy, the eleven year old with coppery tinted hair pouts in Chrom's arms.

"It's not like we were gonna get hurt, Chrom! Sheesh!"

He squeezes her in his arms, making her yelp as he laughs. "While I am confident in your abilities to keep yourself from getting hurt, I am not so sure about Lissa. She's picking up on too many of your bad habits already."

She huffs and pokes Chrom in the side of the head. "You worry too much, Chrom. Now put me down."

He makes a show of thinking deeply, then shakes his head, shifting her and tossing her over his shoulder. "Nope, I think I'd rather annoy you."

"CHROOOM!" she whines, hitting him lightly in the back. "Please, put me down!"

He rolls his eyes and complies, wincing as she gives him one last smack to the back of his head. "Fine, fine, as you wish, Becca."

The girl stands to the side awkwardly with her mother, watching the entire scene in shameless amusement. "Thank you, oh precious protector," she mutters with an exaggerated bow, even adding a goofy flourish with her hand. With that, she ducks under the boy's swipe and grabs a saddlebag from her horse.

"So, Becca, what did you pack today?" Stahl asks, leading his horse to her side and trying to peek into her bag.

She holds the bag out to him and he takes it immediately, holding it while she pulls out a bundle of cloth. "I packed some sandwiches, fruits, chocolate and vanilla cake with extra icing like Lissa enjoys, and some pasta."

They shake their heads. "Becca, you need to stay out of the kitchen. Next thing we know, you'll start up a restaurant, or be made a chef," Chrom mutters under his breath as he takes the reins of the horses and leads them to the side of the road where they can graze.

She walks a couple yards from the horses and spreads out the cloth, proving it to be a giant picnic blanket. "But if I don't go in the kitchen, then I won't be able to perfect my apple pies with Sumia!"

The boy in blue armor sighs. "Milord, you know this will turn out just like the sledding argument."

"I know Frederick, but I still want her to improve on her fighting abilities."

Lissa bounces out of Frederick's arms and over to the travelers. "Come on, her food has got to be the best you'll find anywhere!"

Becca blushes furiously. "It's not that impressive, honestly," she mutters, embarrassed at the praise.

The mother and daughter step over to the cloth and pull back their hoods. The mother has pure black hair, bangs cut over the right side of her tanned face to cover one of her dark brown eyes. Her daughter reveals shining platinum blonde, if not white, hair, cut along her jawline with her bangs falling into her blood red eyes, set into an almost sickly pale face.

The daughter looks nervously to her mother, who gives her a smile. "I'm Robin, and this is my mother Katarina. Obviously, we're travelers."

Becca smiles widely at them and grabs the bag from Stahl before he can let his stomach control him. "I'm Becca, blueberry over there is Chrom, the one in armor is Frederick, the little blond goofball is Lissa, and this black hole of a stomach here is Stahl. It's great to meet you."

"Stop calling me a blueberry, Becca!" Chrom whines as he pulls off his boots to settle down on the blanket as everyone else starts pulling off their own boots. "That got old five years ago."

She shakes her head. "Nope! I think it's amusing to see you get all annoyed with that nickname."

Katarina lets out a small laugh. "You seem close, are you siblings?"

Becca's smile instantly drops, a frown taking its place as she looks away. "No, we're not."

"She's a close friend, but Lissa is my sister," Chrom clarifies for them, putting a hand on Becca's shoulder. "She's like a sister though, and I wouldn't let anything happen to her just as if we were related."

The frown remains as she pulls out covered trays of food, revealing massive amounts of food crammed into their containers that could feed an army. She shrugs away Chrom's hand and hands around plates to everyone, including two extras to the mother and daughter. "It's a story I won't tell, if you were hoping for me to divulge you," she mutters in a dead tone, eyes empty of anything but sorrow and suffering.

"I'm sorry, I wasn't aware this was a sensitive topic," Katarina apologizes, before she realizes she's holding a plate. "Wait, how did you know to bring extra plates?"

Frederick and the others come to the same realization. "So it seems that you did know. How is that?" he asks, frowning at Becca.

She glances to her side and up before she shakes her head. "You wouldn't like how I knew."

Lissa, unhappy with the gloom over her best friend, jumps on her back. "It doesn't matter! Let's eat this feast!"

The sudden distraction puts a smile on Becca's lips once more, and the entire group laughs at her antics before serving up the delectable meal.

They all help to put away the empty food containers into the bag while Becca and Chrom go to the nearby stream to clean the plates. They take care of the dishes quickly and efficiently, before Chrom notices Becca staring off into the woods, holding a clean plate in her hands.

"Becca?" he asks, unsure of how to get her to focus. He touches her shoulder and shakes her lightly, getting no reaction. "Becca?" he asks again, worry setting in.

A light laugh echoes through the woods, and Chrom follows her line of sight, finding a ball of dark light moving their way through the woods, taking on the human form of a Grimleal priest. "It seems I've been caught in the act. At least we know the girl lives, after all this time."

Chrom rises and draws Falchion from its scabbard, leveling the ancient blade at their uninvited guest. "What have you done to her?"

He laughs again, this time much more darkly with an insane glint in his eyes. "Oh, I've just put a little memory spell on her, it should wear off in a few weeks. That is, if she can live through her memories again and come through intact."

A snarl mars his face as Becca slumps, the plate falling gently into the grass as tears build in her eyes. "Release the curse! Now!" With a mad cackle, the priest vanishes with a childish wave of his fingers. Knowing the enemy has gone, Chrom falls to his knees next to Becca as sobs wrack her body, her gaze far away and blind to the present. "Frederick! Somebody, get over here!" he shouts helplessly, pulling her close when she clutches her head in both hands, falling into hysterics quickly.

The summoned knight charges over on his horse, lance at the ready, only to pause at the sight before him. "Milord, what's happened?" he questions as he dismounts.

"She's been cursed by a Grimleal Priest, and I'm not sure how to deal with this." A small, muffled scream issues from Becca. "She's trapped in her memories, but she might not survive based on what that priest said."

Frederick reaches into his saddlebag and pulls out an expensive elixir. "This might help for the time being, but we need to see if Katarina or Robin can help in any way." He opens the bottle and tilts some of the potion into the girl's mouth, forcing her to swallow the bitter liquid, but it clearly eases some of her suffering, calming her down enough that she eases her grip on her skull and leans more into Chrom. "Take my horse back to the others, I'll bring the dishes back."

Chrom wastes no time in mounting the horse, holding the girl close as he hurries back to the others. As soon as they see Becca's condition, they lay back out the blanket they were about to pack up, Katarina throwing her bag to the ground as she pulls Becca from Chrom's arms as he approaches, carrying her to the blanket and setting her hand on the girl's forehead, frowning in concentration.

"Chrom, what happened?" Robin asks, kneeling beside her mother.

"Some Grimleal priest cursed her to relive her memories, and mentioned that it would wear off in a few weeks if she can survive," he answers as he dismounts, holding the worried Lissa close as they walk over and kneel next to Robin. "Can you two do anything for her?" he asks, remembering from their lunch talk that both were mage refugees from Plegia in the last years of the war, welcomed for their protection against Plegian invaders in Ylissean villages.

Robin sighs. "I know I can't, but Mother might be able to do something, at the very least offer advice."

Frederick returns and Stahl helps him to put away the plates, and they linger in silence with the horses as the others wait for an answer at the blanket for an hour or more.

Finally, Katarina pulls her hand away from Becca, who sleeps with tears still falling down her cheeks. "This is a strong spell, one I can't hope to fight off here, or without help."

Chrom grips Lissa tight as she clutches at him. "Is there anything you can offer? Anything at all?" he begs.

Robin perks up, determination sparking in her eyes. "You mean the Outrealms, don't you?"

Katarina nods slowly. "Yes, and even then there is only a chance for her to get through it. Currently, she is too weak to survive long enough for the curse to wear off naturally, but if we took her to a different dimension, we could get her the help she'll need. Although, that's not all, I'm afraid."

After a moment of tense silence, Stahl steps over and sighs. "What else?"

Katarina closes her eyes, which seem to have filled slightly against her will. "Her mind was already unstable as it was, and the short time she's been under the curse has made her much worse. She would have to stay away from this realm for years in order to fully recover."

"I- I refuse to believe that to be her only option," Frederick growls, having become highly attached to the girl as he protected the royal family. "There has to be some other way."

"There is the option of letting her suffer like this until she dies, which could be days to a couple of weeks at most," Katarina snaps, "or we can save her body and mind with a few years separation."

"What would we need to do?" Stahl asks when he finds it clear Chrom is unable to ask.

She opens her teary eyes, and Robin turns to him, answering for her mother, "Have faith in her, and help us get there."

Okay, I got them all tied together. Next time, I don't know yet how long the time skip will be, but know it will be another few years. And I'm sorry about all the skipping around, but I think you get the idea of how these things turn out when your mind follows a billion ideas and mashes them into a whole new story once more. This is exactly what happened, so sorry for having to tolerate me being a weirdo like this again.

I do not own Fire Emblem Awakening.


	3. Chapter 1

Becca POV

I release a sigh of relief as Marth finishes off the last of the zombie creatures, and look down at my outfit, leather boots tied firmly up to my knees with sturdy knots, shorts just reaching to my mid thighs, and my sleeveless, skin-tight shirt covered by a cloak, all in dark blue and black to blend in with the night. I pull my attention away from myself and watch the tense exchange between Chrom and Marth before deciding I need to get closer and find out a reason for this person being here at the same time as the monsters.

I jump out of the tree and to the ground behind Marth, leveling a blade at his neck as he talks to Chrom and Robin, his face hidden behind a blue butterfly mask like mine is hidden by an elegant black and white mask, both of our masks matching our outfits. "Explain how you got here." I whisper in his ear, pressing the knife ever so slightly against his neck.

He gulps and barely moves. "I was sent by Naga to prevent a calamity in this world."

I slowly pull the knife away and step back, earning a strange look from Sully, Frederick, Robin, Lissa, and most of all, Chrom and the noble in the frilly suit. "You know Chrom, I would have thought you might recognize me, even if it has been several years," I mutter with a smirk, pulling off my mask.

A grin lights up his face and he laughs, running up to me and wrapping me in his arms. He crushes my ribs, but I don't complain as I squeeze him back just as tightly. "You're finally home," he laughs, burying his face in my hair.

I grin and squeeze lightly around his neck. "I'm here to stay, finally. I missed everyone, but you the most," I whisper in his ear as Frederick approaches on his horse. I release Chrom and offer a hand up to the knight. "It's good to see you've kept those two out of trouble for so long."

Frederick takes my hand and shakes it gently, a small quirk of his lips being the only sign of his happiness to see me. "It's been a challenge, but nothing I couldn't handle."

Lissa, who has been standing with Robin, lets out a sob and barrels right into me, nearly knocking us over before I regain my balance. "I thought I was never gonna see you again!" she wails as she proceeds to squish me.

I hug her tightly and smooth her hair as Sully comes over to clap my shoulder. "It's great to have you back! How long have you been gone? Four, five years?"

"Nearly six," I whisper, as Lissa lets me go, "but I'm back now, and that's all that matters."

Chrom crushes me against him again, pressing a kiss into my temple. "I've missed you more than you could know," he whispers, his hand trailing along my spine, leaving a trail of fire.

Marth clears his throat, regaining my attention. "You have all been warned, and my job is done for now."

As he begins to walk away, I call out to him, "Hey Marth?" He stops and turns his head to look at me over his shoulder. "Sorry I held you at knife point."

"Water under the bridge, I assure you, milady," he responds as he walks away once more, vanishing into the forest night.

"Not much for conversation, is he?" the noble in the frilly outfit asks, before turning to me. "Anyway, who is this young lady?"

"Ruffles, this is our favorite person in the world, Becca!" Sully announces, gripping his shoulder tightly. "And just as a warning, don't even try courting her, she's still only sixteen."

I blush slightly and tuck my hair behind my ear, shrinking into Chrom's arms, hiding myself. "Becca, seriously? You can't act this shy when Emm throws you a welcome back party!" Lissa whines at me. "And, Naga forbid, Maribelle organizes the whole thing and sets you even more in the spotlight!"

Robin stands off to the side awkwardly, watching the scene unfold with confusion. "Robin? What's the matter?" I ask her after a moment.

"Uh, not to be rude or anything, but… how do you know my name?" she asks, pure confusion in her red eyes.

I blink at her in shock. "You… don't recognize me?" She shakes her head in denial. "But that makes no sense."

Chrom tightens his arms around me slightly, leaning down to whisper, "She's suffered amnesia. We found her in a field, and we thought she looked a bit familiar. Is she really… that Robin?"

I nod. "Definitely, I would recognize her and her mother anywhere."

Frederick heaves a great sigh and seems to slightly relax his posture, though he stays tense. "Well, if you are able to vouch for her, then I see no harm in trusting Robin."

The albino girl regards him with a raised eyebrow. "And what were Chrom and Lissa trying to get you to do earlier?" she mutters, face mocking seriousness, but her eyes and tone betraying her amusement.

I roll my eyes at their antics. "Alright lovebirds, save it for later."

Robin blushes beet red, and Frederick gives me a dirty look. "Never say that again, unless you would like some training?" Frederick offers me, a deadly smirk on his lips.

I shrug. "Doesn't bother me one bit." I look longingly to the road. "May we please be on our way? I've been waiting to get back here for years."

Ylisstol

We walk slowly to the throne room to see Emm, Chrom holding my hand as Lissa secures her arm around mine as we walk almost awkwardly through the halls of the giant palace.

"So, tell me why that Virion guy is here?" I ask Chrom, squeezing his hand slightly.

He grimaces in distaste. "He hasn't given a reason other than that he heard of us and wished to find the glory of serving under such a force."

Lissa snickers, though tries to hide it with her hand. "More like he was probably bored out of his mind wherever he's from."

I shake my head and look up, realizing we've already arrived at our destination. Chrom rubs his thumb over the back of my hand, offering me a smile of encouragement as the doors are opened by a Pegasus knight. "She's been desperate for a break from this mess."

I barely register his words as his older sister catches my attention, her golden headpiece blending in with her blonde hair almost perfectly, though glinting in the light filtering in through the giant windows set high into the walls. "Ah, Chrom, Lissa, Frederick, and… Becca?" she greets, eyes widening as they come to rest on me. She then opens her arms to me, even though we're still over halfway across the room from her. "Becca, I do believe a hug is in order."

I laugh as I break away from her younger siblings, racing up to her to hold her close in a hug I never got six years ago. "Hi Emm," I mutter in her ear as our arms close around each other, grinning like a fool.

She lets out a soft laugh herself as we pull away from each other. "Let's have a look at you: all dressed up for running around?"

I look down and bite my lip. "I've been to warmer places while I've recovered, and this is all that I could tolerate in the end."

She smiles and leans in to whisper to me, "I don't think a certain someone in here minds it though." I blush slightly and back away from her, rejoining Chrom and the others. He takes my hand and laces our fingers together. "Now then, Chrom, I am under the assumption that our people are safe?"

He nods. "They ought to be free of bandits for a time, although we'll be needing more soldiers posted to the borders. They crossed over here from Plegia to attack Southtown."

A pegasus knight in light blue armor with even lighter blue hair steps forward. "Forgive me, milord, my knights should have intercepted them before they made it so far into our borders."

Frederick shakes his head as he addresses her. "T'was not your fault, you were busy here with your duties guarding her Grace."

"Yeah!" Lissa cheers, turning towards Robin. "Besides, we picked up one of our old friends."

"Ah, so I finally get to meet the infamous Robin?" Emm murmurs, genuine excitement in her voice.

"Yep. She's amazing with tactics, magic, and swordplay," Chrom compliments aloud as we turn to look at her. "I feel that she would be a great addition to the Shepherds as our tactician."

Robin blushes and shakes her head. "Chrom, I'm not all that! Besides, what would your people think?"

"Aw, c'mon Robin! It'll be fine, they can shove their opinions where the sun don't shine for all I care!" I turn to her, pleading. "And you've already got a town full of people you helped save from bandits yesterday, that has to count for something!"

"Yeah!" Lissa joins in on the begging. "We need more ladies in the Shepherds anyway!"

She blinks and waves her hands around. "Alright, alright, I get the point! I'll join!"

I grin and laugh as Lissa pounces on Robin, cheering like always in joy. Chrom shifts and I feel his warm breath at my ear as he whispers, "Thank you for doing the begging for me."

I stop laughing and gaze up at him, narrowing my eyes slightly like I used to whenever he annoyed me. "You silly prince, you never could convince anyone to do anything," I drawl, mocking him to let him know I'm not being fully serious.

Before he can give me a witty reply, a cough from Phila catches my attention. She looks particularly angry at me, making me step away from Chrom, much to his disappointment. "I would ask that you refrain from behaving in such a manner, Becca."

Emm steps forward as I frown at the Pegasus knight. "Phila, she is as family. I would not ask for her to behave in any other manner."

"It is still improper, Your Grace, and I wish to maintain a decent reputation for all of your family," she argues back. The mention of family hits me hard, and my heart stops for a moment.

I turn my back on her and clench my fist, sudden sadness overwhelming me. "I will not linger for talk of politics. I will see all of you later," I dismiss myself, uncaring for the heavy silence I leave behind as everyone watches me walk slowly out of the throne room.

My body shakes as I navigate the halls to find the tower room Chrom mentioned he had maintained for me until my return, tears burning in my eyes and blurring my vision. The decorations melt into blobs of color in my vision as I near the tapestry hiding the staircase, my feet heavy as I ascend the steps. The long hike up seems to take forever as I struggle to contain myself from screaming at the pain in my heart. Tears leak from my eyes when I find the door, polished and closed as though it has remained undisturbed by people and time. My hand shakes violently as I reach for the knob, and I manage to get the door open and closed before running to the bed and jumping on it, clutching a pillow close as I cry my heart out. The pain only intensifies as I lie there, helpless and in a pain no healer can ever fix.

Continued in the next chapter as usual, though confusion is abound with everyone.

I do not own Fire Emblem Awakening.


	4. Chapter 2

Chrom POV

I watch Becca walk out of the room, hair hiding her face but not her clenched hands, nor the fact that they are shaking. The others fall into silence as they watch her as well, and I feel something is off about her, but I just can't put my finger on it.

Phila clears her throat after a moment of the tense silence. "Was it something I said?" she asks, nervous.

"You never knew her from before, did you Phila?" Frederick asks her, to which she nods in confirmation. "The former Exalt, in the last months of the war, found her being chased by a platoon of Plegian soldiers, who wanted her alive for their king. Things happened, and he had to pull her away from a cliff, where she nearly jumped to her death at five years old. She was brought back here, with the promise to find a way to return her to her family, but the order died with the end of the war. Much of the court wanted to return her to a family they believed she was lying about not having run away from, even turn her out, and the Lord Chrom had to protect her from them for years before Lady Emmeryn was able to calm them and the rest of the people."

She shakes her head. "I do not quite follow how that would bring out such a reaction."

I shake my head and clear my throat. "She was ripped from her family soon after her grandfather's death, whom she loved deeply, and she wasn't able to have a real family life ever since she arrived in our world. She was hit pretty hard by our father's death, and where she should have been able to be a real family with us, she was under constant supervision and I always had to be armed to keep the nobles from bringing her any harm. She hardly even remembers her parents, hell anything of her home."

"Oh gods, I never…" she whispers, looking down in shame. "Is that why you are so close?"

"Yes, though we are all close because we were only able to trust each other for that time," Emm answers quietly. "We need to set this matter aside, and go to see the counsel. There are matters that need to be addressed before we can talk any further."

Lissa and Sully each take one of Robin's hands and charge out of the room, while Frederick and I follow Phila and Emm to the conference room.

A few hours later, meeting has ended

I walk to the Shepherds mess hall to find this was where Lissa, Sully, and Robin had escaped to, and find them talking to Vaike, Virion, Sumia, and Maribelle. It seems as though Maribelle is scolding Vaike yet again for doing something she deems disgusting, most likely due to the fact that Robin is laughing and Vaike looks as though he just burped. I look around the room, but find no trace of Becca anywhere.

"Captain Chrom, you're back!" Sumia yells, getting up from her seat to promptly fall flat on her face.

"Sumia! Are you okay?" I asks, offering her a hand up.

She accepts it and blushes as she brushes off the dirt on her front. "Yes, I'm alright Captain."

"So what news do you bring?" Maribelle asks, settling her parasol flat on the table in front of her.

I sigh and step away from Sumia. "We will be marching next week to Regna Ferox to ask for an alliance and soldiers to aid in the fight against the new threat. It will be strictly voluntary, so any who find themselves unable to make the trip are not obligated to change any personal plans."

"But Chrom, isn't this something Emm would typically take care of herself?" Lissa asks, a cute frown on her face.

"She doesn't want to make the people panic by taking a sudden trip for a month to go north, so she's asked that the Shepherds handle this." I take another look around the room. "While we were in the meeting, did any of you happen to pass by Becca anywhere?" Everyone shakes their heads in denial. "It's been several hours since we last saw her," I mutter to myself.

Vaike frowns and looks around the room. "The Vaike didn't know there was another girl in the Shepherds. Is she a new recruit?"

Frederick steps in behind me. "The guards say she went in the direction of the gallery when she left the throne room, milord. Maybe that is a good place to look?"

I nod in approval. "Thank you, Frederick. I'll go track her down, hopefully before dark." I jog out of the mess hall, heading to the throne room to follow her last known trail, knowing she is probably long gone from wherever she wound up.

I make it through several hallways before finding the tapestry hiding the entrance to her tower, finding it has been slightly disturbed since I was last up there. I push aside the heavy fabric to begin the trek up the long staircase, glancing out the windows on my way up to monitor the sun's location as it slowly sinks to the horizon.

When I finally reach the top of the stairs, I find the door to be slightly ajar, light from the sun peeking out from the room beyond into the dark stairwell. I push the door open slowly, a hand on Falchion as I step inside, examining the room, finding the object of my attention sprawled on her bed, back to the door and sheets a mess, her boots still on, though feet hanging off the edge. I walk around the bed, finding her face buried in a pillow, damp with tears as her hands cling loosely to the soaked mass.

I reach over and pull her feet onto the bed and remove her boots, easily undoing the simple knots and setting them on the floor before walking around behind her once more, lifting her in my arms and pulling back the light blankets, settling her down with a dry pillow under her head as I pull away the soaked one, which I place on the small table in front of the fireplace.

That done, I pull off my own boots and stretch out next to her on top of the blankets, and wrap an arm over her, pulling her close to my chest. She snuggles closer as I wipe away the last traces of her tears, sighing as she settles once more. "Becca…" I whisper lowly to her, kissing her forehead.

Her eyes flutter open as I pull away from her, red rimmed and dull with sadness. "Chrom?" she asks in a small voice.

I rub her back in small circles the way it would always calm her down before, clearly still something that helps her to relax. "I'm right here for you, Becca. Tell me what's wrong."

She buries her face in my shoulder and lets out a shuddering breath, as she clearly tries to hold back tears. "It's stupid, Chrom."

I shake my head and bury my nose in her hair, which smells somehow sugary and sweet. "I know you, and I know it would not be stupid if it affects you so."

I feel her smile as she pulls her arms out from under the blanket to wrap around my neck. "Thank you Chrom."

I move down the bed until our eyes are level, and I rest my forehead against hers, moving my nose next to hers. "You have nothing to thank me for, Becca," I whisper, moving my face forward as she shifts her face closer to mine, our lips brushing against each other's.

Becca POV

"I have everything to thank you for, you silly prince," I whisper, my eyes fluttering shut as he presses our lips together in a delicate kiss, then both of us slowly pull back as I feel my face burn in embarrassment.

He chuckles at me, eyes filled with amusement. "Is that a blush I see?"

I smile and give a small laugh, burying my fingers in his hair and pulling him in close for another kiss, which he takes without complaint. A small giggle bubbles up in my throat as his fingers glide along my side, tickling me with his feather-light touch. I squirm away from him, only to find a devilish smirk on his face. "Chrom, don't you dare-"

"Too late," he whispers as he rolls over the top of me, pinning me down and attacking my sides with his fingers, the light sensations making me laugh so much I feel the tears cascading down my cheeks once again, but this time in endless mirth at the torture he puts me through. I hardly notice when he stops tickling me while I try to catch my breath. He wipes away the fresh tears with a sad look in his eyes as he whispers, "You aren't getting off that easily, Becca. You need to tell me what happened back there. Was it something Phila said?"

The smile falls from my face as I look pointedly away from him. "Yes and no," I whisper, and he leans in a bit closer to hear me better. "While I was gone… the curse was removed, but it left enough damage to make my depression worse. I've tried almost everything to make it better, and I found that avoiding any talk of family made the whole problem vanish. When we learned that a few years ago, I never heard that word again while I recovered, and it did wonders. Today was the first time anyone's spoken about it around me, and I thought I was ready to hear it, but I was wrong."

He shoves his arms under me and lifts me up to him once more. "You don't need to feel sad or guilty about any of this, I promise you. We are your family now, and that's all that really matters, even though the rest of the world doesn't want it to be so." Without any restraint, he bends his head down to rest on my shoulder, his breath on my neck making me shiver helplessly. "I'd never understood how much you meant to me all that time until I nearly lost you that day, and now that I do, I will never let you go again."

I turn my head to the side to press my lips against his forehead, humming slightly to myself. "I refuse to vanish from your life again so easily."

He sighs before moving back to sitting by my side, looking out the window to the setting sun. "The others will be wondering where we are, if Frederick hasn't begun to search for us as well."

I shake my head and sit upright, leaning slightly against his shoulder with Naga's brand. "He's become quite the worrywart, hasn't he?"

"Indeed he has. But regardless of whatever he may or may not be doing, we ought to head down for dinner soon, lest Stahl get into an eating competition with Vaike again."

Shepherds Mess Hall

Chrom holds the door to the mess hall open for me, being a perfect gentleman as he allows me inside. A blonde man I don't recognize sits across from Stahl, who both have plates piled high with mashed potatoes and some type of stir fry, along with full tankards of what I hope is not anything with alcohol. Maribelle, Lissa, Sully, Sumia, Robin, Virion, Frederick, Ricken, Miriel, and Kellam all wave to me, and I wave back in greeting as I eye the two eaters warily.

"Are they seriously having an eating competition?" I ask Maribelle as I pass her.

She nods, a look of disgust marring her face. "Yes they are, the uncivil scoundrels that they are. Must they seriously do this before the rest of us have even had a chance to eat our own fill first? That way they would at least ensure none of the spare food goes to waste."

I nod in agreement as I hurry off with Chrom to get a plate of the delicious smelling food. "So Chrom, who's the current chef?"

"Nobody's really taken on that role in particular since nobody could read your handwriting except for Sully, and she is never allowed in the kitchen," he mutters as he serves us both a serving of the mashed potatoes, putting a little bit more on my plate before we move on to the stir fry. "Sumia still bakes her pies fairly often, so we get to have that regularly, and the rest of us take turns with the kitchen duty."

"Good to know I might get to do some form of cooking regularly then, if you all don't mind me taking over the kitchen again?" I ask him, though it sounds more like a statement even to me than a question.

He raises his plate and walks us back to the table, sitting us across from Robin and Frederick. "I think it could be managed, although some of us do have special dishes associated with our turns."

I take my fork and stab a piece of chicken on my plate, dipping it into the mashed potatoes before taking a bite out of it. I swallow the rich food and hum slightly in delight. "Well, I think I'd be more than willing to share the kitchen if whoever cooked this cooks again."

"Um, who's the girl? A new recruit for Teach to train?" the new blonde person almost shouts down the table, rising from his seat on the bench to get a good look at me.

I raise an eyebrow at his outfit, leaving little armor on his body and no shirt anywhere in any form on his torso. "I'm gonna guess you're Vaike, then?"

"Yup, that's me! The Vaike's rep has already spread through to the recruits!" he cheers, as I just look at him and blink. "So, you ready for a spar yet, Chrom?"

He groans next to me. "Vaike, we just got back, so maybe tomorrow

"Is that a confession that you can't face the Vaike? Instant victory!"

"I never said that Vaike." He looks at me, and I instantly frown. "But maybe Becca could be my stand-in?"

I roll my eyes at him and sigh. "Gods, Chrom! Do you want him hurt that bad?"

"Ha! The Vaike has no fear! Does the lady accept the challenge?" he asks, totally oblivious to my comment.

I take one last bite of my meal and rise slowly from my seat. "I accept the challenge. If anyone wants to place bets, now's the time while I turn a blind eye to it." I look Vaike straight in the eyes. "Practice weapons or live?"

"Live, first to draw blood without major injury wins unless the other yields before that happens," he answers, a grin growing on his face.

I chuckle lightly to myself as I lock my eyes on him. "Then I hope you remember how to yield while still having some dignity."

"Let's take this outside," Frederick mutters, rising with everyone else following suite. "The practice court will work for a fight of this nature."

Chrom holds my hand and intertwines our fingers. "Are you sure about using live weapons? He uses an axe, by the gods! Is that something you are seriously willing to risk?"

I turn to him with a delicate smile. "I prefer the real weapons, and I can use swords, knives, and a bow pretty well."

He frowns at me. "Have you gotten assassin training while you were gone?"

"Yup, though I am working on how to use tomes still. But for this fight, I'll stick to my sword and knives."

"That implies you expect to be disarmed somehow or other," Robin states from right behind me.

I shrug, answering, "Just an extra precaution. You never know when a backup weapon will come in handy."

"You know, that's tactically advantageous…" she mutters to herself, following us outside to the darkened practice court.

"Alright, first blood drawn or a yield from either party will end the match," Stahl states as I take a silver sword from the rack as Vaike takes an iron axe from another. I check my knives in my boots before I pull off my cloak, getting a whistle out of Chrom and a blush from everyone else. I toss the cloak off to the side and steady myself. "Do you both swear to fight honorably and by these rules?"

"Yes," we both mutter at the same time, eyes locking onto each other.

"Then begin on my command." He steps back to the rest of the group. "Begin!"


	5. Chapter 3

Chrom POV

"Begin!" Stahl shouts, and the two combatants begin circling one another.

They only circle for a few minutes in silence, until Becca stops and a terrifying grin splits her face, eyes predatory and gleaming, her grin promising pain. One of the reasons I refuse to be opposing her in even a game.

She dashes forward, swinging her sword down in a flashing arc, and Vaike is barely able to block the powerful hit before it strikes his shoulder. She immediately jumps back and crouches low to the ground, one hand holding her steady against the ground and the other holding her sword backwards and behind her. The gleam never leaves her eyes as she watches Vaike circle her, wary now that he knows just how powerful she is.

"This is not a fair fight! You never said she was trained!" Vaike shouts as he charges forward.

"I never said I was a recruit," she says, voice blending in with the wind to seem ethereal as she rolls away from Vaike, swinging up at his back to rest her blade at his neck, miraculously drawing no blood. "Now, do you yield or want to make me clean my blade?"

"I yield. You have won this round," he grinds out from his clenched teeth.

She backs away and lowers her blade slowly, not even breathing hard as he gasps for air. "Told you she would win in less than three attacks. You owe me twenty gold, Lissa," I whisper victoriously in her ear.

She pouts and counts out the money into my hand as I see Frederick paying a small amount to Robin at the same time. "That's not fair, I thought Vaike could hold out a bit longer than that!"

"Vaike, behind you!" Becca shouts, as the sound of something hitting the ground with a dull thud echoes through the sudden silence in the court.

I look up to find her kneeling over someone, bringing a knife down, the blade dripping with blood as she lifts it in the air. "Becca!" I shout as I run to her, pulling her away from the bleeding attacker. "Frederick, restrain him!"

Becca struggles slightly against me, but I hold on to her. "Becca, I'm not releasing you just so you can attack him again."

She sighs and turns to face me. "I'm not going to attack him, I promise, it's just that my arm is bothering me."

I release her to find she has a bloody gash slicing cleanly up her forearm. "Oh gods, I'm so sorry! I didn't see you were injured!"

She smiles thinly and presses on the center of the wound. "This is nothing, it's not even very deep."

"I'll be the judge of that, Becca. Give me your arm," Lissa growls as she marches over to us.

"I'm fine," she insists, even as she offers the bleeding limb to my sister.

Lissa narrows her eyes at the wound and waves her staff, stopping the bleeding instantly and building a scab over it before the injury vanishes, leaving only a slightly lighter line of skin to show she had ever been injured in the first place. "It wasn't so bad, but it was best to have it healed anyway."

"Whatever Lissa. Thanks," she responds, hugging Lissa around the shoulders as the attacker groans in pain from Frederick trying to pull him upright.

"Dammit man, where is my daughter? Where did you take her?" he groans, clutching his shoulder and ignoring Frederick, looking around.

"Who is your daughter?" he asks the man.

His eyes open, slightly foggy with pain, staring straight at Becca. "The one who just stabbed me."

She frowns down at him, grabbing onto my arm. "My father died trying to protect me when I was five."

"No, I survived. I have the scar to prove it, and your mother is here as well, with your little sister."

"That's impossible," she growls, half hiding behind me.

I unsheathe Falchion as the man tries to reach for her. "Don't even try it."

"No, don't!" a woman's voice echoes out, as two sets of footsteps charge our way. I turn around to find Becca holding her sword aimed at a woman on the other side of the courtyard, with a young teen hiding behind her.

"Mom, what's going on?" the brunette about a foot and a half shorter than Becca asks the slightly taller blonde-haired, hazel-eyed woman, who stares at Becca.

"Becca, it's me, your mother. Don't you recognize me?" she begs, tears brimming in her eyes.

"Becca, wait, you do look quite similar to all three of them," Robin says, stepping between them.

I look closely at each of them, finding some aspect of her in each of the two adults. While the man's hair is dark in this lighting, it looks similar to hers, and he has the same shape of eyes as her, as well as the same height. The woman has the same eye color and small nose, as well as a similar skin tone, lighter than Becca's but still in the same area. The teen is almost the spitting image of Becca from when she was around eleven, but has darker eyes and has dirty blonde hair.

"I can prove we're your parents, Becca," the woman begs, reaching into her pocket to pull out a folded piece of paper. "Here, this is a family picture we took a month before you vanished."

Still not trusting them, she keeps her sword raised. "Put the picture on the ground and take several steps back," she growls. They instantly obey, keeping their hands raised as they nearly trip over themselves to step back. She steps forward and picks it up, never taking her eyes off her targets until she brings the picture closer to her. "This is…"

I step up behind her and smile as I sheathe Falchion, seeing the little girl dressed the exact same as she was when Father brought her home near the end of the war, laughing at the viewer, her chubby cheeks scrunching her eyes so they look half-shut. "That's definitely you, Becca. There's no denying that they are your family."

The photo shakes as she lowers her hand, dropping the sword into the grass. "I don't understand… why are they here?" she whispers, voice thick with held back emotions.

I turn her in my arms so she can bury her face in my chest, and I feel her tears stain my shirt, but I pay it no mind. "It doesn't matter, Becca," I whisper to her over and over again as I run my fingers through her hair.

"Milord, what do we do with her family?" Frederick asks me after a moment of tense silence.

I sigh and rub Becca's back. "Give them space in the barracks, unless there's a guest room already prepared that they can use."

The girl steps forward, away from her mother, and walks up to me, tapping Becca on the arm, making her look to her side. "Yeah?" Rather than answering, she pulls Becca into a small, hesitant hug around her waist.

She stiffens in our arms immediately, making the younger girl back off. "S-sorry, it's just… you looked like you needed a hug… Sis."

Becca starts trembling again, and I hold her tightly. "I need to get her back to her room, we'll talk later," I dismiss us hurriedly, bending over and sweeping up Becca's legs under her knees like a princess. Lissa grabs her cloak and spreads it over her, then steps back to let me run into the castle as Becca's breathing picks up, her skin getting clammy under my hands. "Becca, you need to calm down. You're safe, nobody is going to hurt you."

Her breathing, while shaky, steadies into deeper breaths, showing her efforts to calm herself. I eventually find the tapestry and push it aside, skipping every other step to get up the tower faster. At the last window, I look out to find the moon high in the sky, stars twinkling gently in the pitch black sky. When we reach the door, she reaches out to twist the handle for me rather than making it so that I wouldn't have to put her down.

The moonlight stretches across her room from the windows, giving a gentle light to the atmosphere that seems to calm her even more. She wraps her arms around my neck and buries her head into my shoulder, just resting as I sit down on her bed, keeping her in my grasp.

"Chrom… I'm sorry I'm such a wreck…" she mutters in my ear, just barely a whisper.

I squeeze her gently, moving my hand from her shoulder to her waist as she shifts slightly. "I don't mind, not after everything you've been through with the court and that curse."

She shakes her head and looks up at me. "But I-"

I press a finger over her lips, silencing her. "Listen to me, I don't care if you're a wreck, it just means that I need to be there for you. I want to make you happy, more than you know, and… gods, I don't know how to put this into words." After a moment of struggling to find the words, I replace my finger with my lips, kissing her and trying to convey just how much she means to me. She kisses back with just as much feeling and passion, twining her fingers into my hair as I pull her closer. With a sigh, we part, and I rest my forehead on hers. "You should go wash up and get to bed, before it gets much later."

She nods and scoots off my lap and onto the bed next to me, reaching into a draw on her bedside table, producing a candle and a match. She lights it up and the orange glow illuminates her face, strong with a light scar on her eyebrow, from a cut she got before coming to the palace, and yet so sad. "Thank you, Chrom," she whispers, before pulling off her boots to expose her long, pale legs to the cooling air. She then walks me to the door and rises to her toes to press a light kiss to my cheek, even though I have to bend down a few inches to help her get there. "Good night."

"Good night, love," I whisper as I steal another kiss from her soft lips, already enjoying kissing her more than I should.

She blushes as I pull away from her, though I pretend to be ignorant as I leave her room, set on getting back to the barracks to settle the issue with her family.

Becca POV

I make sure Chrom is gone from the stairwell before I take the candle into my small washroom, lighting the tinder under the small tub with the tiny flame to get the thing heating before I add the water, setting the candle in a tray next to the tub. The buckets I had noticed earlier smell fresh, with a bit of a minty aroma lingering in them, which I find is because of the mint leaves pasted along the inside of the buckets. As the water reaches the halfway point, I stop filling it up and let the water begin to heat, moving on to removing my clothes.

The heavy belt buckle, a gift from Robin's mother, is delicately removed from my shorts and placed on the desk in my room for polishing in the morning. I then toss off the rest of my clothes, put out the fire under the tub, and lower myself into the hot water, allowing the heat to ease my sore muscles and calm my thoughts. The soap dish at the end of the tub has a honey and lavender scent, relaxing and sweet, my favorite from when I lived here before.

After scrubbing my hair and every inch of my body, I rise from the tub, grabbing one last bucket to give myself a final rinse before getting out, reaching for one of the freshly washed towels. Just as I rest my hand on it, someone knocks at my door. I freeze, eyes wide as I blow out my candle and reach into my camping wash-basket, pulling out my emergency throwing knife, and wait.

The person turns the knob and walks in, heavy footsteps and clanking armor slow and unsure. "Becca, are you here?" Frederick's voice echoes out.

I breathe a sigh of relief and stay hidden. "Frederick, I'm in the washroom, but don't come in. What brings you up here so late?"

"The maids didn't know how to get up here, and asked me to bring up some clothes for you."

I blush madly at the realization that he had to handle my clothes. "O-oh, thanks then. Could you just… put them on the bed, please?"

"Of course, milady. Once you are dressed, please let me back into your room so I may discuss something with you." His footsteps lead back to the door, and onto the stone steps as the door squeaks shut.

I breathe a sigh of relief and peek my head out of the washroom, making sure he isn't in here with me, and rush over to the bed, the stones cold on my damp feet. I randomly grab for a nightgown and smallclothes, finding the gown to have sleeves to my elbows, and the skirt falling down to just above my knees, in a dark fabric I can't figure out the color of without proper lighting. With a sigh, I run the towel through my hair and grab the candle, setting it on the tray on my bedside table before lighting it once more. "I'm decent Frederick."

He steps in slowly, looking at the ground bashfully. "Forgive me for coming in while you were bathing."

I shake my head as I ruffle my hair with the towel, drying the long, coppery mess as much as I can. "It's alright Frederick, at least I wasn't out here yet when you came in. But I honestly wasn't expecting anyone to be coming up here tonight for anything."

"Ah, well, I wished to discuss the nature of your relationship with Milord," he says as he eases down onto my bed, sitting on the end.

"What about our relationship?" I ask, unsure of what he's enquiring about.

He sighs and frowns. "You have people coming here claiming to be your relatives with evidence, and I don't wish to see either of you hurt by whatever may come that they would be the cause of."

"If you're worried that they will make me leave him, I will tell you right now that I have no intention of leaving, either him or this world."

"But what if they force you to leave? They are your guardians, after all," he points out, accenting it with a raised eyebrow.

I cross my arms and frown. "The royal family are my guardians, not them. They were not a part of my life long enough to count as such."

He shakes his head. "Be that as it may, you are still their child."

"Yeah, and they still weren't there! I told myself they were dead and that I would never see them again years ago, and then they show up out of the blue just when I start making progress again!" I scream at him, frustrated with him beyond reason. "Frederick, I don't care if I'm related to them by blood, or that I am not from this world! This is my home, and all of you are my family! I wouldn't give up all of this for people I hardly remember!" Tears cloud up my vision slightly, and I try to blink them away.

"Becca, I-" he starts, voice apologetic.

"Don't! Just leave me alone," I whimper, my shoulders shaking as I suppress my sobs.

With a heavy sigh, I hear him walk out of my room, closing the door gently behind himself as he leaves me alone in my misery.

I sit there, shaking and my eyes dripping tears, gasping, for a while after, maybe even an hour, before I grab a pillow and shove my face into it, screaming at the top of my lungs in distress.

Yeah, this is really sad… like, extremely. I have a bunch of friends with depression, and they handle it pretty well whenever I'm around, but that's because they can talk it out with me. Then I go on facebook and see a bunch of posts from one of my friends who's got it real bad, and this chapter is dedicated to her. I won't put her name out here, but to all those with depression, if you need to talk, I'm here and willing to listen. You don't need to be alone.

I do not own Fire Emblem Awakening.


	6. Chapter 4

Robin POV

I walk into the mess hall, following my nose due to my failure to fully remember how to get there. The smell of bacon and fresh bread, as well as cheese and something like eggs floods my senses as I walk in, making me inhale deeply as the sun moves up just a bit higher in the sky.

"Good morning Robin!" Lissa yells from the table, holding a piece of bacon on the end of her fork.

I wave back with a big smile and walk over to her. "So, who's the chef this morning?"

"I think it was Becca, but I haven't seen her anywhere this morning, so I can't be sure," she answers to my query.

A sigh makes me turn around to find Chrom walking in. "Nobody I've asked has seen her since I took her up to her room last night, and she was fine then."

Frederick walks in from the kitchen with a couple plates of food, setting one on the table in front of me and across from Lissa for Chrom, standing at attention. "I actually went up to her room last night to run an errand for the maids, and I fear that I may have upset her."

"Define upset, Frederick. What did you say to her?" he asks, frowning.

Frederick swallows, almost unperceptively, as he answers, "I was asking what she would do, since her parents are here, and she is technically their responsibility now."

"Oh no…" Lissa mutters, shaking her head.

"Frederick…" Chrom sighs, going to sit down across from Lissa and picking up a piece of bacon with his fingers. "While I don't mind you having talked to her about it, that's not something she needed to talk about so soon."

"I… understood that when I left. She refused to look at me when I started talking about it, and I truly regret having brought it up with her," he murmurs, sitting down next to me. "Although I am currently worried about her, as she isn't in her room or in the practice courts. I have asked around with the guards, and the previous shift said that she left her tower a couple of hours before dawn."

"Before dawn? That's unlike her, she'd rather sleep in until we have to drag her out of bed," Chrom whispers, eating a mouthful of eggs.

"Miriel is looking for her now, and Sully is riding around the perimeter of the wall to see if she's still in the area," Frederick says solemnly, interlacing his fingers under his chin.

The sound of running footsteps echoes down the hall into the room, quickly followed by the subject of our conversation. Her cheeks are red, her whole body dripping sweat, hair tied back into a braid wrapping around her head several times and pinned down, dressed in leggings and a very baggy shirt and her knee high boots. "I did find both of them and told them I was fine, by the way, Frederick," she growls at him, running past us to go straight back to the kitchen, emerging with a plate loaded down with bacon, eggs, and toast.

She sits a bit away from us and starts layering everything onto the toast, making herself a sandwich literally dripping eggs. Lissa coughs and waves her hand in front of her nose, right as the smell of sweat assaults my own nose. "Gods, Becca! How long were you training for?" she asks, pinching her nose.

She swallows a mouthful of her sandwich before looking at us. "Since before Frederick rolled out of bed. Why? Do I smell that bad?"

Frederick frowns deeply at her, though visibly breathes through his mouth. "May I ask why you have been training for at least four hours?"

She raises an eyebrow and sets down her sandwich. "Because I prefer to train alone for as long as I can get away with without being interrupted."

Chrom sighs and puts together his own sandwich. "Mind sharing what you needed so much time to train for?"

"Let's see, I came down to warm up in the practice court until dawn with my sword and daggers, then I used my bow for an hour in the light, and I just got back from running around the city wall twice," she lists off, looking up at the ceiling and scrunching up her face in thought.

"Gods, no wonder you look like you do," Lissa speaks, voice muddled from her still-pinched nose.

"Please tell me this isn't something you do every day," I groan, burying my face in my hands.

She shrugs and continues to take another bite of her meal. "Then I won't tell you."

"Becca, why must you push yourself so much?" Frederick asks, his frown vanishing as I put my hands to use in feeding myself.

"Because it helps me get my head on straight, and I'm used to doing it." She closes her eyes and proceeds to eat more of her sandwich.

"Would you explain to us why you are so used to torturing yourself, Rebecca Clarkson?" the man from last night asks from the doorway, holding the hand of his younger daughter, who holds her mother's hand in the other. "Actually, tell us how the hell you wound up like this."

She frowns and takes a bite of her food, taking her time in chewing and swallowing. "Well, only because you insist, Father," she says, clearing her throat. "After having the memory curse removed, and I recovered, I found myself training to be a spy and assassin four years ago in the Outrealms, taking on mock contracts every once in a while my master would advise me on how to improve for the next test. After two years, I was finished with my training, and completed my first assignment, a disgusting merchant who preyed on young girls." She shivers in disgust. "I was glad when that job was finished, and I got myself a nice bonus for the extra steps I took. After that, I decided that I needed to train even more, so that there would be no situation I find myself in that would get as far as that one did. Also… it helps with the nightmares, if I work myself into the ground."

Chrom puts a hand on her shoulder, and she puts her hand over his. "What situation?"

She smiles humorlessly and shakes her head. "Nothing worth mentioning, Chrom."

Frederick coughs into his hand. "Somehow I don't believe that is the truth, milady," he murmurs gently.

She turns away from him and returns to eating her food, signaling for us to get off her back. I clear my throat and turn to Becca's family. "So, um, how did you all get to this world?"

The two adults shrug, but their younger daughter, Katie, perks up. "Our new neighbors have a daughter, a year older than Becca. We were playing some game when I had to go home, so she walked me over, saying she had to give something to my parents. When we were all in the kitchen, she waved her hands, and some weird portal opened under our feet. It was kinda bluish, and there were golden runes all around it, but it was all rimmed in black."

Becca growls and drops her food on her plate. "What?"

Katie puts her hands in the air. "I don't know much more, but I remember her saying it was time for the lost one to return, and for the final judgment to commence. Whatever that means."

"Is her name Sahara, by any chance?" she asks, clenching her fists. Katie nods, fear in her eyes as she watches her sister. "That bitch, she couldn't settle with banishing me to this world, could she?"

"Becca, watch your language!" their mother shouts, a frown on her face.

Becca glares at her mother in fury. "Don't tell me what to do, Mother." She rises from the table and carries her plate to the kitchen, then returns, heading towards the door. "You have no control over me."

Her father rises to his feet, scowling at her. "Don't you dare disrespect your mother, and don't you dare walk out that door, young lady," he growls at her. "We are your parents, and you would do well to listen to us."

The look she sends him makes his knees buckle, eyes empty, body tense. "My family died years ago, when I was brought to this world. I have no parents, I have no sister. Forget what you think you know, for you know nothing." She turns and walks out of the room.

Maribelle walks in right as she leaves, staring back at Becca's retreating figure before walking daintily through the room. "Would you please stop upsetting her? Her mind is too delicate, and she can't take much more of this," she says, specifically addressing her family.

Becca POV

I walk out to the practice court, grabbing my weapons to carry up to my room for cleaning and sharpening. I also pull out the training dummies for everyone else to use whenever they decide to come out to do their own training, which I find all to be well-used, and a few in need of being repaired.

Noting down what I will need to take care of this evening, I head up for a quick bath to clean myself up before I head to the leatherworkers, where I will be making a new sheathe for my blade and a holster for my knives to go around my thighs.

"Milady!" Frederick gasps when he finds me bent over a work table, cutting a strap for a sheath.

I finish my cut before I look up at him from across the table. "What is it, Freddy?"

He clears his throat. "Emm is asking to see you as soon as possible."

I roll my eyes and pick up my knife again, returning my attention to the work under my hands, making small marks for where I will need to punch out some holes. "When I'm done with this I'll go see her."

"By as soon as possible, she meant right now, Becca."

I frown as I reach for the next tool to begin the intricate engravings. "I'll be done with this shortly, and I know she wants to talk soon, but I told her my plans earlier this morning. I don't actually have to be up there for another thirty minutes." Sensing him still staring at me, I glance up at him. "Who sent you to get me out of here?"

He sighs before slumping. "They are desperate to talk to you, milady. Your parents want you back."

I shake my head and focus again on my work, creating a pattern of swirls in a vine-like design. "And did they ever consider that I don't want them back? I'm happy here Freddy, and I don't know if I could go on if I weren't here."

"Becca, just… give them closure, they need it."

I stop the motions of my hand, moving it away from my work before I glare at him. "I think they had plenty of closure years ago. They knew what happened, and now they know that I have a life here. What more could any of us ask for?" I take a deep breath and set down my tools, pulling the string from my hair to tie back the strands that have fallen out. "Now, would you please leave me be so I don't ruin a good piece of leather?"

He turns around and walks out, though I can tell he won't be giving up so easily.

With a sigh, I get back to work, nearing the end of the strap when I sense another presence about ten minutes later. "Freddy, I'm busy."

A laugh, familiar and lighthearted, fills the otherwise empty room. "So he really did come to bother you earlier?"

I look up to see Chrom smiling down at me from my side, holding out the next tool for me. I smile gently as I take the tool, wiping it with a cloth before finishing the pattern. "Yes, first by trying to say Emm wanted to see me. But I got the truth out of him without too much effort."

I can feel him shake his head as he rests a hand on my back. "Yeah, none of us could ever lie to you very easily without getting caught. You seem like you know everything, even when you don't."

I smile at the thought. "Yeah, well… you know how it works." I glance at the door to see the spirit of a dead soldier, transparent and casually dressed, laughing silently at us, before looking up at him again, reaching for the leather polish. "Anyway, I just need to get a layer of polish on here, then let it sit for a few hours before I get the buckle on, and it'll be done."

I looks down and gently touches the strap. "Beautiful work, Becca. When did you learn to do this?"

I smile at his curiosity. "I picked it up as a craft to keep a steady income in the Outrealms. Did you know the Secret Sellers are in constant need of the silly things, or repairs to their leatherwork? It's almost comical."

"Secret Sellers?" he asks with a frown. "Why does that sound familiar?"

I shake my head and wipe the extra polish off, buffing the leather to a glow. "I know the family fairly well, and I get a discount for providing them with their materials. The Shepherds will benefit from that, I am sure."

He helps me to put away the tools and then offers me his arm, guiding us up to the palace. "Well, I hope you plan to introduce us sometime."

I nod happily and smirk at the thought. "I dunno, they're quite the crazy bunch. Maybe a bit too crazy for you to handle."

He raises an eyebrow and smirks at me. "Hey, if I can handle you, I'm sure I can handle a whole family."

I laugh at him, poking his arm. "Don't be so sure, Chrom, they are way worse than me on a bad day."

He just shakes his head as we enter the palace, taking a shortcut to Emm's office when I detect movement in the shadows. I pull him along past the shadow, which he doesn't seem to notice, as his focus is solely on me. I detect the muffled footsteps of well-used boots on the carpet, and the spirit from earlier floats along ahead of us, keeping an eye on our guest. His eyes widen as I hear the faint sound of metal whooshing through the air, and push us apart as the knife flies between us.

I look back to find an assassin standing fearfully in the middle of the hallway, maybe about thirty and much taller than even Chrom. "How did you know I was there?! This isn't possible!" he exclaims, trying to keep his voice down as he pulls out his sword.

I jerk my hand down in an arc, releasing a blade from its hidden sheath up my sleeve, and charge at the man, sliding between his legs at the last second as he makes to slice me in two. "Bad move," I whisper, rising behind him fast enough to plunge my blade into his side, being sure not to damage any of his internal organs. He drops his blade with a cry, falling to his knees as I pull the blade free, his blood dripping down the weapon onto my hand. "Who hired you?"

He glares up at me, trying to stay silent, when he fumbles around in his pocket, pulling out a sheet of parchment with ink markings all over it. I see a rough sketch, but can't make it out before he drops it on the ground. "It can't be… you?"

I frown as I step over to him, punching him in the face, causing him to collapse to the ground. "Who do you work for?" I ask again.

He spits out blood onto the once pristine carpet and looks at my feet, refusing to meet my eyes. "His majesty King Gangrel… ngh, he wanted you brought to him alive, and the Exalt and her family dead."

I lift him slightly off the ground by the neck. "Why me?"

"Because you were to be given to him eleven years ago," he whispers.

I stare at him, before shaking my head in denial. "You're lying to me."

He laughs slightly. "You only wish I was." In fury, I squeeze his neck in just the right spot, knocking him unconscious.

I look up at Chrom, fearing for the worst. "I don't think it's a good idea for me to stay much longer. If Gangrel is sending people to get me, after all this time, then I only add to the danger of you and your family."

He stares at me for a moment before turning, shouting, "Guards!" Within seconds, a whole group of uniformed soldiers are carrying the unconscious man away to be interrogated and healed. He then takes me to his room, getting me a basin of water and a rag, which I use to get the blood off my hands and knife, before putting the weapon away, all of this done in silence. "Becca…" he starts, unsure. "I don't want to lose you again."

I look over to him, sitting in the chair at his desk, and sigh. "Chrom, you won't, not this time. I will leave, but I will send you letters to let you know I am alright." Unconvinced, he looks away. I sigh, going to kneel next to him. "I will be alright, Chrom. We will not lose contact again, not if I have anything to say about it. I can go look for Marth, work with him to find out what his plans are, and ensure that he is truly an ally…"

"But what if something happens to you again?" he whispers, undoing the string in my hair, letting the mass of red tinged curls flow down my back. "I just got you back, you can't go so soon again."

I tuck a stray hair behind my ear, meeting his gaze as he combs his fingers through my hair. "I promise I will come back," I whisper to him, barely holding my emotions in check at the thought of leaving the one place I've always wanted to stay. "Believe me, this won't be easy for me either."

"Then stay where we can protect you and my sisters," he begs, lifting his voice as he pulls me into his arms, kissing me breathless.

I wrap my arms around his neck as his slide into place around my waist, and feel the tears of pain and guilt welling in my closed eyes.

Yeah, I don't know where this came from… review, anyone?

I do not own Fire Emblem Awakening.


	7. Chapter 5

Becca POV

After dinner that night, I slip out of the Shepherd's mess hall, fully aware of all the members watching my every move, Chrom in particular, making what I'm planning the hardest thing in the world to do. Without meeting their eyes, just keeping my gaze set up and forward, not straying towards the tables even once, trying to keep my resolve intact. If I look at even one of them, I know I'll wind up unable to go, just the fear in their eyes will break me.

Somehow, I find myself in my room, staring out my window, before I know it, gazing out over the city and fields beyond bathed in moonlight. It seems almost ethereal, as though I'm somehow trapped in a dream, the features of the land and city are just so clear and beautiful, and I just want to stop time, and trap myself, here and now, forever.

A gentle knock on the door draws me back to reality. "It's open," I call back gently, almost solemnly.

The door creaks open almost as gently my voice. "Becca," Chrom breathes, voice hardly a whisper, as his feet rush up behind me, his arms wrapping around my waist and shoulders, pulling me back tightly into his muscled chest. "Please, don't do this," he begs.

Tears rush to my eyes, and I bow my head, gripping the bare arm wrapped around my shoulders. "Don't let me do this, Chrom. Make me stay, please. I can't live with myself if I do it," I finally sob, realizing for myself at long last that I would never have been able to leave him again.

He wordlessly walks me over to my bed, spinning me about and forcing me to sit down, kneeling on the ground in front of me. "I would never let you go, even if it were you fooling yourself into thinking you were doing so by your own decision," he whispers with a smirk, kissing my forehead before helping me out of my boots and sheathes. "You need to rest, sweet."

I shake my head. "I'm not tired, Chrom," I complain, glancing up at him and grabbing his hand.

He sighs, before pulling off his own boots and tackling me down onto the bed, sealing his lips over mine to swallow up my gasp of surprise. He pulls back with a playful glint in his eyes. "As much as I could like to carry on, I don't think you would be very happy with me if we were to do so. But, I think we can resume from where we left off yesterday…"

His fingers ghost over my sides, but I grab his hands and hold them off of me, although not without some struggle with his very strong body over mine. "Not again, Chrom! Why can't we just relax for a little while and read together, or play some really bad card game?"

He cocks his head to the side. "You mean one of the ones you taught us from your world?"

I nod. "Maybe Slapjack, or Gofish?" I offer, knowing he used to like those two the most.

"Hm, Gofish just so that we don't accidentally hurt each other," he decides, finally getting off of me and pulling me up, just in time for another knock on the door. "Who is it?" he asks as I light a few candles, placing them around the room as I do.

Frederick and Robin step in, carrying a jug and a bowl of fruit. "I was hoping we could talk about what you were wanting to do, Becca," Robin mutter, shifting nervously as she holds the bowl of fruit.

With a gentle shake of my head, I take the bowl from her and set it on the short table in front of the fireplace. "I'm not going anywhere, Robin, so there's nothing to discuss. But we are going to be playing Gofish, if you would care to learn?" I offer.

"You cheat at that, Becca," Frederick accuses playfully, though he sits down and takes the cards to begin shuffling them thoroughly.

I gasp, imitating a noble lady having been offended. "You wound me, Sir Frederick! I would never play dirty at a game such as this, especially one so simple."

Robin and Chrom shake their heads. "Alright children, let's just explain the game to Robin, rather than bicker about why Frederick always comes up in last place in this game," he interjects in their banter.

"Ah, yes. So, it goes something like this." I turn to her and grab a random handful of cards from Frederick, greatly annoying him in the middle of his shuffling. I give us each a hand of five, finding two sixes, a three, a ten, and a king. She has two kings, a five, and three tens. "So, what you want to do is try to get four of a kind of each card, and when it gets to your turn, you choose one person if they have a specific card. For example, if you were to ask me for a five, I would say Gofish, and you would have to pick up a card from the extra deck, so you would do that." She does so for the demonstration. "Now, if it were my turn, and I were to ask you for, let's go with, a ten, you would have to give me every ten card you have, and to hold any back is to cheat. So, since I have one, and you have three, I would have four of a kind, and I would put them down. That would mean asking for them is no longer allowed in the game. Do you get it so far, Robin?"

She nods, even though she's frowning. "I think so, but I think it'll take a few tries. Maybe I should sit out a few rounds to see how it's played."

"Nuh uh, you aren't going to get it until you start playing it. If you start running into problems, I'll give you a few hints," I promise her, collecting the cards and handing them back to Frederick for reshuffling and dealing.

Frederick grunts as he gives us our hands. "You mean give her the cheats."

"She's never played before, and in my defense, I gave those exact same hints to all of you, you all just never listened! And that's why I always win!" I see Robin about to show her cards and curve her hands to keep them to herself. "Almost forgot to tell you, when you accidentally show others your cards, it's called bleeding your cards, and could lead to actual cheating. Curving them inwards like that keeps that activity to a minimum."

Chrom snorts as he organizes his cards, most likely by numerical order, as I set mine in order by colors and symbols. "Where you learned so much about cards in your world at such a young age is beyond me, Becca. What are all the card games you know, anyway?"

I smirk as I see Frederick frown at his cards, most likely a bad hand, if the spirit behind him shaking his head is anything to go by. "I know Slapjack, Gofish, Solitaire, Spider Solitaire, Spit, Pepsicola, Old Maid, and I feel like there's a few others, I just can't think of them… oh, and BS."

"BS?" Frederick and Robin ask at the same time as Chrom stares at me.

"Bull Shit, if you want to be a bit more crude," I clarify in a singsong tone. "Frederick, do you have any queens?"

With a small growl, he hands me two cards, and I put down the four queens. "Oh, and Robin, if you get cards from the person you asked for them from, you get to go again until someone says Gofish, or until you decide you want to let the next person go." I then turn to Chrom. "Do you have any fours, Chrom?" He gives me one, and I put it in my hand, smirking to myself, knowing I just picked up a card that the others will quickly forget about and need. "Robin, do you have any twos?"

"Gofish," she whispers, and I smile.

"That has got to be a record," Chrom mutters.

Robin tilts her head to the side, curiosity piqued. "What does that mean?"

Frederick, with a hardly noticeable quirk at the corners of his lips, addresses her. "She has only gotten cards successfully in two consecutive turns out of three, and she usually has to give up with one card left, and gets to Gofish all of us up a wall, then flush us out all over again."

She raises an eyebrow at me, to which I shrug. "Hey, they play right into my hand, I want to see if you give me a challenge, and if they've upped their game over the years."

A smirk is shared around the room, and Chrom laughs almost predatorily. "It is so on, Becca."

Robin POV

Before she slumps over onto Chrom's shoulder from exhaustion, Becca takes first place in three rounds, then second for the first time the boys can remember to my taking first place. I find her struggle to stay awake fairly amusing, though Frederick looks as though he wants to scold me for thinking of her in such a manner. Chrom just shakes his head and wraps an extra blanket from the chair around her, not interfering with her body's demands for sleep, and her apparent desire to use him as a pillow. It's actually a really cute image, seeing the two of them together in such a manner.

A light knock at the door catches Frederick's attention, to which he frowns, looking at the stubs of the candles we replaced a while ago, then the position of the moon. "Who would be coming up here at this hour?" he whispers to Chrom.

The blue haired prince shakes his head, unclipping Falchion's sheath from his belt and slipping it out from between him and Becca, setting it under the table in preparation for a possible fight. He does, somehow, manage to keep an arm around Becca and not disturb her sleep, watching the door warily as Frederick makes his way over. Following Chrom's example, I set a hand on my Wind tome, just in case.

Frederick grabs a dagger off of Becca's desk and approaches the door, blade at the ready. "Becca, come on, I know you're still up," Lissa whines from the other side of the door.

We all breathe a sigh of relief and settle down. "Lissa, what are you doing up here?" Frederick asks in a scolding manner.

"I'm looking for Becca, since her room is lit so brightly I can see it from the city if I wanted to," she informs us.

I roll my eyes. "Keep it down, she just fell asleep," I scold her softly as Chrom lifts the younger woman in his arms, carrying her over to her bed, when I realize neither of them are wearing their boots. "Chrom, how long were you two barefoot for?"

"Uh, a few minutes while we were messing around before you and Frederick showed up, so for quite some time. Why do you ask?"

Lissa grins widely. "Ooooh, how do we know you two weren't doing more than just messing around?" she asks, wiggling her eyebrows suggestively.

The poor man blushes furiously as he tucks the oblivious girl into her bed. "L-Lissa! I-I-sh-she would ne-never do something like th-that! Why would you even suggest such a thing?!"

Even Frederick seems amused as he gathers up the bowl and jug from our late night snacking. "Milord, if neither of you two would do such a thing, then why would you allow it to fluster you so?"

Annoyed grumbling comes from the bed before a gust of wind blows out all the candles in the room. "Shhhrrrrr-rmmmmmppp…." is all I can make out from the muffled grumble, as though spoken into a pillow.

I can hear Chrom chuckling, before he yelps, and I hear the sound of a soft impact. "Guys, I think that's our cue to leave," Lissa whispers, taking my hand and guiding me out of the dark room. I feel Frederick's presence behind me, and continue after the small blonde cleric as she guides us down the stairs.

The walk seems to take forever in the dark, almost longer than it took to get up as we spiral downwards towards the main part of the castle, but as we pass a window, I take but a second's pause to admire the view of the land. I then realize Chrom got left behind in Becca's room, but then figure that she might have grabbed him and pulled him over to her, causing the yelp and impact. With a small shake of my head, I continue on down, an amused smile on my lips at the antics of those two lovebirds.

Ah, all the love. Isn't it beautiful?

I do not own Fire Emblem Awakening.


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